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TIGHT LINES February 2020 Newsletter

of the

Rabun Chapter (522) Trout Unlimited

The mission of the Rabun

Chapter of Trout Unlimited

is to conserve, protect, and

restore Northeast Georgia’s

coldwater fisheries and

their watersheds.

CLICK HERE

to visit our Award Winning Website!

Rabun Chapter Monthly Meeting

Tuesday, February 18 Fellowship Hall of Rabun Gap Presbyterian Church

8397 Wolffork Road, Rabun Gap, GA

Fellowship begins at 6:30 pm

Meeting begins at 7:00 pm

From Rockies to Appalachians: New Biologist Meet & Greet Presentation by Sarah Baker, GA DNR Fisheries Biologist

Sarah will unpack her adventure filled endeavor to landing her dream job as a fisheries biolo-gist. She has worked extensively with trout in riverine systems in Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Wash-

ington, and Alabama. She’ll discuss various habitat improvement/stream restoration tech-niques that she has contributed to, and describe her research experience with a tailwater

trout fishery. Sarah will also share some of her upcoming responsibilities with GA DNR.

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Forward Casting - Important Dates for the Next Two Months

Feb 8 (Sat) Annual Planning Meeting. 8:00 am at the Dillard House Restaurant in Dillard,

GA Anyone can attend. Contact Kent Wilson.

Feb 18 (Tues) Monthly Chapter Meeting. 6:30 pm at Rabun Gap Presbyterian Church in Ra-

bun Gap, GA. Contact Kent Wilson.

Feb 25 (Tues) Rabun Chapter Board of Directors Meeting. 6:30 pm at Rabun Gap Presby-

terian Church. Anyone may attend. Contact Kent Wilson.

Mar 14 (Sat) GA Council TU Quarterly Meeting. 8:00 am—11:00 pm. Chattahoochee Nature

Center in Roswell, GA. Anyone may attend. Contact Charlie or Kathy Briehaupt.

Mar 17 (Tues) Monthly Chapter Meeting. 6:30 pm at Rabun Gap Presbyterian Church in Ra-

bun Gap, GA. Contact Kent Wilson.

Mar 21 (Sat) Hoot on the Hooch. Doors open at 5:00 pm. Helendorf Inn in Helen, GA. An-

nual fund raising event for the GA Foothills Chapter. The drawing for the Dream Trip will be

held.

Mar 24 (Tues) Rabun Chapter Board of Directors Meeting. 6:30 pm at Rabun Gap Presby-

terian Church. Anyone may attend. Contact Kent Wilson.

Mar 28 (Sat) Rabunite 101, An Introduction to Fly Fishing. 8:30 am—1:00 pm at Clayton

Methodist Creative Learning Center, Clayton, GA. See Page 8 for more information. Con-

tact Charlie or Kathy Briehaupt.

Click on the Images and Visit the Websites of our Sponsors

Thank you, Sponsors! We appreciate your support of the Rabun Chapter!

All donations to Rabun TU (a Federal Tax Exempt 501(c)3 non-profit) are tax deductible.

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Preliminary Results from the 33nd Annual Rabun Rendezvous

Attendance: 224 adults and youth

Net Receipts: $12,035.00

Waaa Hooo!

Scenes from the 33rd Annual Rabun Rendezvous!

Pictures submitted by Michele Crawford

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“The Rendezvous was unlike anything before or since, a gathering of uninhibited men down from the

mountains. The event attracted perhaps a hundred mountain men, their Indian wives, and assorted visiting

tribesmen. Amusements included gambling, drinking, storytelling – continuing day and night.” Quote from

The Mountain Men, by George Laycock.

A Personal Note to All

from Ray King, Rabun Rendezvous Chair

Thanks to all who made the 2020 Rabun Rendezvous successful!

The Rabun TU Chapter celebrated our 33rd Annual Rabun Rendezvous this year! This is a

tremendous milestone for our chapter. “Old Man Winter” smiled on us again this year. The

crowd braved the rain, and then enjoyed the break in the weather, the music and the fel-

lowship.

Thanks to the Dillard House and The Foxfire Boys! They provided outstanding facilities,

food, service and fantastic music! We felt the presence of missing, but not forgotten, mem-

bers of our TU family in “Around the Bend,” especially fellow Rabunites Fritz Vinson and

Doug Adams.

We are indeed blessed to be part of a community who love the outdoors. Thanks to all who

were able to attend the Rabun Rendezvous! Your presence helps make our Rendezvous

the success it has become. Those of you who weren’t there, missed a great time and we

hope to see you next year. Come be part of our community!

A special thank you is due to all the volunteers from the Rabun TU Chapter who donated

their time and resources to make this year’s Rabun Rendezvous a success. They worked

to solicit great donations from our friends and businesses who support the TU efforts, par-

ticipated in the event set-up and worked as runners in the Silent Auction and Bucket Raf-

fles and staffed the Registration desk. I cannot thank you enough.

A special thank you is offered to all of the individuals, organizations and businesses who

made donations to this year’s Rabun Rendezvous. We offer our thanks for your assistance

both in advertising and financial support of the Rendezvous through your generous dona-

tions.

See the next page for a list of our wonderful donors!

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33rd Annual Rabun Rendezvous Donor List

Eedee Adams and The Doug Adams Family; Brooks, Amanda, Avril and Calder Adams; Allison

Adams; Johnny Amrine (Amrine Rentals, Clayton, GA); Kathy and Charlie Breithaupt; Unicoi

State Park & Lodge; Michele and Broderick Crawford (Crawford Art Gallery, Clayton, GA); John

Dillard, Jr. (Dillard House and Staff); Jeff Durniak; Smithgall Woods State Park; The Foxfire Boys

(Wayne Gipson, Mike Hamilton, Steve McCall, Tom Nixon, Dean English, Filmer Kilby) ; Jake

Darling & Jimmy Harris (Unicoi Outfitters, Helen, GA); Tammy and Pat Hopton; Vaughn Rogers

(Reeves Hardware – Dillard, GA); Jim Kidd; Mack Martin (Atlanta Fly Fishing School); Susan

and Frank Patton; Julian F. Patton, Jr.; Jeff Reeves & Lewis Reeves III (Reeves Hardware – Clay-

ton, GA); Terry Rivers; Gail and Frank Tolbert; Highlands Aerial Park (Scaly Mountain, NC); Ray

King; Highland Hiker (Highlands, NC); Maria Rodeghiero; Steve Hudson; Rabun TU Chapter;

Monte Seehorn (Seehorn Cellars); Brian Weeks; River Through Atlanta (Chris Scalley); Rodney

Tumlin; North Paulding High School Fly Fishing & Conservation Club (Rodney Tumlin); Mane

Design (Cathy Williams); Noland Smathers; Mike Sobaski (Pere Marquette Michigan); Coosa

Valley TU Chapter; Brookings Anglers (Highlands, NC); Steve Perry; Peter Croes; Jimmy Jacobs;

Jerry Watt; Karen Paris; Clint Hood; Kent Wilson; Silver Threads & Golden Needles (Franklin,

NC); Bob Beck (In Honor of Doug Adams); Wander North Georgia (Clayton, GA); Upper Chatta-

hoochee Chapter – GA TU (Connor Reynolds); Sky Valley Country Club; Bob Pickens – Pickens

Forge Knives (Tiger, GA); Trey McFalls (Shady Creek Expeditions); Gordon Fowler; Pat Stewart

(In Memory of Garland Stewart); June Landreth (In Memory of Tom Landreth); David Ruth;

Patsy & Ray Gentry; Doug Hickman; Sid Elliott; Dwayne Hoback (In Memory of Garland Stew-

art); Bill Beach; Ashley Johns; Will Mohr; Scott Low (Hatch Camp & Art Farm, Clayton, GA); Co-

hutta TU Chapter (Don Thomson); Tiger Mountain Vineyards (Tiger, GA); Kent Wilson; Steve

Thomasovich (Big T Fly Fishing); Tony Allred; Susan Marchant; and Bob Justin.

WAAHOO for our 33rd Annual Rabun Rendezvous! Hope to see you on the water.

Ray King, Rabun Rendezvous Chair

Thank you, Donors! We appreciate your support of the Rabun Chapter!

All donations to Rabun TU (a Federal Tax Exempt 501(c)3 non-profit) are tax deductible.

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Backcasting

Rabun Chapter Monthly Meeting

January 14

A large turnout of Rabun Chapter members and guests came to hear Gold Rush TU’er and

avid mountain trouter Sam Johnson give a great program on his newly published book,

“Flyfishing the Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina Section.”

The audience was in shock and awe as Sam gave explicit details on prime locations to fish -

and catch! - native speckled trout from various access points off the Blue Ridge Parkway.

More than one Rabunite was heard to murmur “Sure hope he doesn’t write a book on Rabun

County streams!”

Seriously, if you missed the meeting you missed a

great program. Sam’s book may be purchased from

the website shown below. Thank you, Sam, for com-

ing to our Chapter meeting and sharing your

knowledge!

https://wildbearings.com/

Call for Nominations

The Rabun Chapter Board of Directors respectfully submits the following slate of officers to

fill upcoming vacancies on the Board. Any Chapter member may nominate any other per-

sons to these positions. A vote for these positions will occur at the upcoming March Chap-

ter meeting.

Position To Serve Through Name

President 2023 Jeff Durniak

Vice President 2023 Tammy Hopton

Past President 2023 Kent Wilson

Treasurer 2021 Charlie Breithaupt

Secretary 2021 Kathy Breithaupt

Rendezvous Chair 2022 Ray King

Director 2021 Tony Allred

Director 2022 Justin English

Director 2022 Terry Rivers

Director 2023 Jimmy Whiten

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Rabunite Recons

We’re announcing a new program in the new year: Rabunite Recons. These are short-notice invitations to members to go fishing. They’re meant to complement and not replace the great trips, planned well in advance, by Mike Fuller, Charlie Breithhaupt, and other Rabun-ites who have full family schedules and prefer to plan their fishing trips way ahead of time. We hope to use Mike’s fishing trip email list as the method to announce sudden trips and meet up, likely streamside. Semi-retirement now affords me more fishing time, especially on weekdays. I typically let the three W’s dictate my trip plans for the coming day(s). When my Work schedule, Weather forecast, and Water level “stars” align, I go fishing. Hopefully I’ll “catch” more than “fish”. And that might appeal to some chapter members, especially our newer folks who could use a little instream advice and may have the ability to go fishing on short notice. Example Dredger email, which Mike would distribute: “Gonna hit Nan DH tomorrow. Should get there around 1 and will stay til dark around 6. Black Sentra with White County plates. Will depart Cleveland around 11:15 and go thru Hia-wassee.” Let’s give it a try. I’m going fishing anyway. If anyone wants to tag along, I’d love the streamside company. Just know that I go at prime angling times and stay through those prime times. I don’t hang out first at huddle house or come back early for supper or soccer practice. Folks with commitments are welcome to join me astream late or leave early. Oth-ers as ruint as me are welcome to hop in for my Dredger marathons. Get ready for some short notice invitations. And whether you’re a big planner or a spur-of-moment an-gler, we hope you’re able to fish more in 2020. In hon-or of my fishing buddy, the dearly departed Ole Rabun-ite, I will close this note to y’all with the same well-wishes he shared with me each January: Happy New Fishing Season! Waaahhh HOOO!!!’ Jeff Durniak, aka “The Dredger”

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2020 Dream Trip tickets are now on sale!

Contact David Ruth, Ticket Chairperson, or any member of the BOD to pur-

chase tickets.

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Fishing Reports Send your fishing reports to Tightlines Editor

WAY South of Hiawassee Submitted by Peter Croess

Six months ago -literally- this was only a dream or even a daydream that an extended fishing

trip would be a realistic event for me; however, by the grace of God and the prayers of oth-

ers known and unknown around the world it became a reality and the wonderful patience

and encouragement of my love for life wife Jeanie.

First with a short in county trip spec and bass fishing, and then an overnight trip south to the

Everglades for what we thought would be a good day -which it was- only to be a depressed

day of catching! Andy and I vowed to return following the Barkley, Bean, Bryant and

Friends First Tee Benefit which we did the following Monday when he picked up the old

man! He has been fishing those waters for over in Chokoloskee and the Ten Thousand Is-

lands for over fifty years and has known the waters before and after all of the interim weath-

er disruptions referred to as hurricanes; and it doesn’t hurt that he knows where the shal-

lows/oyster bars are which become very evident at low tides.

Peter, “Sir Charles” Barkley and Andy Bean in Lakeland

At breakfast the first morning we were joined by an old acquaintance from Islamorada -

Steve Huff- who now lives and guides (when he feels like it and only with previous FL Keys

fly fishing clients) in Everglades City. Andy and I finished breakfast (he lost the ticket even/

odd and paid) and we drove a few miles south to put in at Chokoloskee to begin our trip

south into the Glades fishing for Snook although the season was closed (for keeping not

catching within the slot limits).

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The water temperature in the morning thru early afternoon was 65.7 to 68.2 which would

make the Snook rather lethargic and disinterested in feeding unless they were “disturbed.”

When the sun was up warming the water surface, we observed a couple of spots where its

range was 70.5 to 71.2 -F of course- which was a long way from the 90F+ of August/

September.

In three days, we would travel about 200+ through the Everglades, yes two hundred plus

miles to various known channels to reach the known Snook spots. In short, we had a long

way to go to get where we wanted to fish and a short time to get there if we wanted to max-

imize our lines in the water time. A Key Rule has always been if you fall overboard stand up;

and if something happens to me -and you have to motor back- follow the markers and head -

generally- North West; and let the fish jerk first!

As we motored daily -mostly at or before sunrise- through the various bays, creeks and

open waters in-route to the likely Snook habitat we observed mullet, ladyfish, shark, alliga-

tors, tarpon, schools of porpoise balling the mullet for snacks and those blasted Cormo-

rants who -collectively- are literally depleting the baitfish. We were sure that Pythons were

in the Mangroves although there had been no sightings -or immediate dispatches thereof-

and no noticeable dwindling/decline of the gators who were previously the top of the food

chain predators.

I don’t think that the ambient temperature ever exceeded/broke 75F the entire trip. Most of

the time we rode/fished with jackets or vests on (with ear plugs) and at cruising speeds over

45 -except in creeks, no wake zones or where canoes, yaks, or others were fishing- we

needed that wind/warmth protection.

Sunrise in Chokoloskee Bay along the Wilderness Waterway

Fishing Reports (cont.) Send your fishing reports to Tightlines Editor

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The sky was blue on the first day following the passing of the previous cold front and the

fishing was slow and required a lot of casting under or at the edge of the Mangrove branch-

es and roots; and I must admit that I put my Mirror Lure in the second floor windows more

than once although we only had to go in to extricate it once as Andy kept the boat out about

five yards form my casting length. On the positive side this allowed me an opportunity to

catch -if they came up to my bait- from the shallows where they were trying to get warm.

I used two baits (rods) one a chartreuse Mirror Lure and the other a white swim bait with a

bullet weight (which I only threw >100 times< in the three days and only had bumps and no

gulps). I only lost one plug with a break off. Andy hooked a way over slot 40” + Snook who

seized an opportunity and cut the 30# leader line with a slash of his razor sharp gills only to

reappear surfacing later shaking his head vigorously in an attempt to dislodge the $12.00

topwater Bomber lure from the corner of his mouth . . . needless to say he re-tied with a 40#

leader and lost no other lures this trip using a walking Bomber, chartreuse Mirror Lure and

a few casts with a white jig.

Most of the Snook we managed to catch were in the 12” to 18” range and although the

catching was slower we hoped, and gave them every opportunity, to self-release “throws”

near the boat so we did not have to remove them from the water to dislodge the hook alt-

hough that method was a frequent occurrence. Once out of water they shook wildly so re-

moving the treble hooks was a challenge especially when all three barbs of the tail hook -

two upper lips and one lower lip- required delicate but a firm grip of the lure to safely re-

move without any significant damage to the animal lest they be on the menu later that day

for another Snook or smaller shark. Sore lipping would, I’m sure be their preferred out-

come!

Day two turned out to be our most productive day although we left a couple hours late due

to an extremely dense fog which rolled in ahead of another front. We found several spots -

points- on the outgoing tides where Snook would opportunistically feed on the smorgasbord

of passing delights. Once past that feeding zone is where we caught trout which only posed

for photos and not the skillet although they were in season . . . a photo and memo always

tastes better in the future and limits its bragging growth size!

Fishing Reports (cont.) Send your fishing reports to Tightlines Editor

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Andy predominantly fished a top water Bomber walking it right-to-left in 6’ to 10” incre-

ments trying to get the Snook to rise -pissing them off- to come up and take my trailing lure.

It worked, occasionally, unless the Snook were too lethargic to rise up and strike the an-

noyance.

On day three we departed the Chokoloskee ramp and made an initial forty-five-minute run

to a place which Andy wanted to revisit from historic catches with plans to be back at the

ramp before the tide changed. During that trip -about halfway- Andy throttled back and

said he wanted to show me something in about fifty yards that I would not believe . . . if I

were sitting at a Rabunites campfire it would start out with well, you SOB’s aren’t gonna

believe this . . . and he was right. Right there in the middle of nowhere we circled until he

found the spot where he could pick up an AT&T signal and he made a phone call to Brian at

Power Poll to troubleshoot the inoperability of his power poll . . . a 40AMP in-line fuse had

literally melted. I can’t state how I repaired it -for warranty reasons- although it became

fully functional.

For dinner on day two one of Andy’s friends sent over some fresh fried Elk strips which we

consumed as a pre desert (Vanilla Cherry and Rocky Road) which we would later obtain at

the Circle K.

We did continue on and catch several under slot Snook before returning early because of

excessively strong winds out of the north which was moving additional water with it on the

outgoing tide and we altered our return plans returning earlier to avoid awaiting pull out

after dark thirty! On the way back in Andy pointed out, which were clearly visible, both the

oyster and sand bars rearing their presence half of the way through the outgoing tide . . .

had we waited we would have had 100 plus/minus yards for bottom between us and the

end of the ramp. As it was I dropped one set of the tandem wheels off the ramp when pull-

ing out the boat and the 250Hp motor worked a little to put the bow up to the front stop

while I attached the winch tightening it enough to make a soprano proud with the tension

tone it had!

Well all good trips have to end so I will end here saying that my trip was made possible be-

cause I had experienced the grace of God due to prayers and the privilege of standing on

the shoulders of others and my good friend of Andy.

VolFish

Fishing Reports (cont.) Send your fishing reports to Tightlines Editor

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Calling all Trout Campers!

Applications are now being accepted for the

2020 Trout Camp!

Where: Tallulah Falls School, Clayton, Georgia

When: May 31 to June 5, 2020 (Sunday – Friday)

Who: Boys and Girls, 13-15 Years Old

Learn and Practice the Sport of Fly Fishing!

Study Sound Conservation Practices!

Enjoy a Fun and Rewarding Experience!

Mail your application (CLICK HERE) for Trout Camp to

Charlie Breithaupt, GA Trout Camp Coordinator

194 Kitchins Lane

Clayton, GA 30525

Deadline for applications is March 15, 2020.

For more information, CLICK HERE.

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Fly of the Month By Terry Rivers

WD 40

HOOK: #14—20 Scud TAIL: Wood Duck Fibers BODY: Grey Thread THORAX: Grey Dubbing WING CASE: Wood Duck Flanks HEAD: Grey Thread or Silver Tungsten Bead Great fly to use anytime during the winter months as a dropper.

See you on The River! Terry

Rabun Chapter Caps Will Be For Sale at the Chapter

Meetings !

Baseball-style caps in various colors with the “Rabun Chapter

TU” logo will be available to purchase at the monthly Chapter

meetings.

Cost is $15 per cap.

Contact Tammy Hopton for more details.

February Hatch Chart

The Bugs Time of Month Time of Day Suggested Flies .

Black Stonefly All month Late am to Mid pm 18-20 Black Elk Hair Caddis or Griffiths Gnat

16-18 Black Stone Nymph or Pheasant Tail Nymph

Small Dun Caddis Late month Late am to Mid pm 18 Brown Elk Hair Caddis

18 Hairs Ear Nymph

Quill Gordon Late month Late am to Mid pm 12-14 Quill Gordon

12 Quill Gordon Nymph

Blue Wing Olive and All month Late am to Mid pm 16-18 BWO, Blue Quill, Adams Parachute

Blue Quill 16 BWO Nymph, Pheasant Tail

Midges All month All day 18-22 Griffiths Gnat

18-22 Midge Pupa

None at all All month All day Dredging Nymphs:12-16 Prince, Hare’s Ear, Zugbug, Pheasant Tail

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Rabun Chapter Membership Update

Current membership: 185 adult members and 6 Stream Explorers.

Welcome New Members!

Christy Shelton from Clayton, GA.

Thanks for Re-Uping!

Pat Atwater, David Bentley, Doug Bryant, Larry Ekman, Shane English, Matthew Hardin,

Doug Hickman, Tom Matthews, Sandy Morgan-Brundage, Jimmy Whiten, Jason Whitfield,

and Leigh Wyatt.

Members That Need to Re-Up!

Brooks and Amanda Adams, Tammy Hopton, and Nick McDougald.

Rabun Chapter Leadership Contacts

Voting Leaders Non-Voting Leaders

Kent Wilson Chapter President Michele Crawford Women’s Outreach, Memorials

Jeff Durniak Chapter Vice President Jerry McFalls Scouts Liaison

Charlie Breithaupt Treasurer Pat Hopton Tight Lines Editor

Kathy Breithaupt Secretary

Steve Perry Past President

Ray King Rendezvous Chair

Frank Patton Director thru 2019

David Ruth Director thru 2019

Tony Allred Director thru 2020

Justin English Director thru 2021

Terry Rivers Director thru 2021

Tammy Hopton Director thru 2022

Jimmy Whiten Director thru 2022

You are Invited to Join Trout Unlimited!

CLICK HERE to go to the membership page of Trout Unlimited. Once you join, TU will as-

sign you to the nearest Chapter according to your Zip Code. If you wish to be a member of

the Rabun Chapter regardless of your Zip Code, specify Chapter 522 in your application.

If you have any questions, contact the Chapter Prez Kent Wilson.

We look forward to having you in our Chapter!

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Prez Notes

Another Rabun Rendezvous has come and gone. We enjoyed another great turnout despite the rain at this year’s gathering. Those in attendance not only enjoyed some great food, mu-sic and fellowship, but also many excellent Silent Auction/Bucket Raffle items. The Foxfire Boys were a crowd pleaser as always! The generous support of our business partners and many contributors year after year are directly responsible for the overall success of this vitally important fundraising effort! We deeply appreciate your continuing support! I strongly encourage all the Tight Lines readers to take every opportunity to support the businesses that so generously support us. We also owe a huge thanks to all of you who came out and joined us for this event. Not only do we enjoy your company, but your attendance is vital to the ultimate financial success of the Rendezvous. The Rabunites sincerely appreciate each of you for your participation! Special recognition goes to Rabunite Ray King who did an excellent job in planning/coordinating the Rendezvous. His hard work and dedication are sincerely appreciated! I hope everyone who attended had an enjoyable time and the opportunity to catch up with old friends and make some new ones as well. We look forward to seeing you back again next year!

Kent Wilson